Piece of cloth for decorating a roller blind, a kit of such pieces and a roller blind

ABSTRACT

The roller blind is for use in connection with roof windows mounted in pitched roofs and comprises a preferably spring-loaded roller tube ( 1 ) which is mountable at the top of the frame or sash structure of the window and a flexible roller blind cloth ( 2 ) rolled up thereon as well as an arrangement for retaining the roller blind cloth ( 2 ) when rolled out against the spring-load on the roller tube ( 1 ) at least in a fully rolled-out condition of the roller blind cloth ( 2 ), in which the roller blind cloth ( 2 ) in at least a comparatively narrow, ribbon-shaped zone ( 4 ) in parallel with the rollertuber ( 1 ) is designed for fastening an edge portion of an additional cloth ( 3 ) when the roller blind cloth ( 2 ) is rolled out, will hang freely down therefrom and when the roller blind is rolled up follow the roller blind cloth ( 2 ) during its rolling up on the roller tube ( 1 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a piece of cloth of flexible material.

Furthermore, the present invention relates to a roller blind for use inconnection with roof windows mounted in pitched roofs, comprising apreferably spring-loaded roller tube which is mountable at the top ofthe frame or sash structure of the window and a flexible roller blindcloth rolled up thereon as well as means for retaining the roller blindcloth when rolled out against the spring-load on the roller tube atleast in a fully rolled out condition of the cloth. Such a roller blindis a common thing for many people in their everyday life.

It is known to provide such roller blinds with pictures, patterns and/orcolours to give them an attractive appearance in rolled out or rolleddown condition.

Thus a polyester strip having adhesive on both sides for use inconnection with adhesion of decorative material on a roller blind isknown from U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,636.

Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,848 discloses a translucent, but nottransparent roller blind formed from a cloth on which a number ofdecorative figures has been glued/mounted, said figures partiallyoverlapping, whereby a blind surface of varying layer thickness andsubsequently translucency is obtained, as the decorative figures arealso translucent.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,205,118 discloses a roller blind in which the clothcomprises two transparent sheets which are adhered to each other alongtheir edges to form an envelope adapted to receive an ornamental sheetto provide a decorated blind.

U.S. Pat. No. 203,395 discloses an adjustable width window shade havinga gathered ruffle at the bottom portion thereof. The ruffle isdetachable at one end in view of the adjustment. It will not be able toroll up along with the shade on account of its thickness.

DK-C-64631 discloses a roller blind with transmitting openings, whichblind hangs down vertically. A piece of a laterally displaceable clothwith corresponding light transmitting openings is suspended on theroller blind with the purpose, by its lateral displacement, of openingor closing the light transmitting openings of the roller blind. Thelaterally displaceable piece of cloth is not decorated and serves nodecorative purpose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide further possibilitiesfor decorating a roller blind.

The object of the invention is met according to a first aspect in that aroller blind is provided with at least one additional cloth of flexiblematerial fastened in a zone in parallel with the roller tube in such away that, when the roller blind cloth is rolled out, the additionalcloth will hang freely down therefrom and when the roller blind cloth isrolled up, it will follow the roller blind cloth during its rolling upon the roller tube.

The object according to a second aspect of the invention is achieved bymeans of a piece of cloth of flexible material which is characterized inbeing decorated and having a top edge portion which is horizontalrelative to the decoration and which is adapted to be fastened to thecloth of a roller blind such that, when the roller blind cloth isunrolled, the piece of cloth will hang freely down therefrom and, whenthe roller blind is rolled up, the piece of cloth will follow the rollerblind cloth during its rolling up on its roller tube. The upper edgeportion is preferably provided with fastening means such as, forinstance, an adhesive, a zipper, Velcro tape, snap fasteners or thelike.

Preferably, several such pieces of cloth constitute a kit.

The object is met according to a third aspect of the invention is met bymeans of a roller blind characterized in that the cloth, in at least acomparatively narrow, ribbon-shaped in zone parallel with the rollertube, is designed for fastening an edge portion of an additional clothof flexible material, such that, when the roller blind cloth is rolledout, the additional cloth will hang freely down therefrom and when theroller blind is rolled up, the additional cloth will follow the rollerblind cloth during its rolling up on the roller tube. In this way anadditional cloth with a decorative appearance can be mounted on thecloth of the roller blind, whereby an additional decorative effect isobtained.

The roller blind cloth and the additional cloth may in said zone or edgeportion, respectively, be provided with means for detachable fasteningof the additional cloth, which means may comprise a zip, snap fasteners,Velcro tape, adhesive tapes or the like. In this way the additionalcloth and, consequently, its decorative effect may be changed.

The difference between the three aspects is that, according to thesecond aspect, decorative pieces of cloth are provided which may bemounted on a roller blind, whereas, according to the third aspect, arollerblind is prepared for the fastening of such an additionaldecorative piece of cloth, which according to the first aspect isfastened.

The roller blind cloth is preferably provided with several of said zoneswhich are preferably positioned such that the one cloth is or theadditional cloths one, when the roller blind cloth is rolled out,fastened thereto at substantially equally spaced distances within anarea which, from the roller tube, extends downwards approximately ⅔ ofthe fully rolled out length of the roller blind cloth. In this way, theopportunity is provided for mounting several additional pieces of cloth,whereby a spatial effect is obtainable which corresponds to the oneknown from theatre coulisses. The effect may be further enhanced bysuitable decoration of the cloth of the roller blind itself.

When the cloth of the roller blind according to the second aspect of theinvention is designed for the fastening of a further cloth, it is to beunderstood that there are position indications in the form of markingsfor the positioning of the edge area of the additional cloth when it isto be fastened, for instance by gluing, or the roller blind cloth isprovided with said means for detachable fastening of the additionalcloth.

The reason why the additional cloth is to be fastened in a zone inparallel with the roller tube is that an additional cloth fastened in anoblique zone would cause problems during rolling up, because theobliquely fastened cloth would be prone to cause a skewed rolling up ofthe roller blind cloth on the roller tube. It is, however, to beunderstood that a small deviation of the zone from strictly parallelwill not impede the rolling up of the roller blind and, therefore, fallswithin the scope of the invention.

In respect of the number of additional cloths and their fastening means,the number is only limited by the consideration that, at a given use,there may be limited room for the roller tube with a fully rolled-uproller blind.

It is to be understood that the additional cloth may extend over abigger or smaller width of the roller blind, provided that it is or theyare, if several are placed in a row, be placed symmetrically relative tothe centre of the roller blind, as problems may otherwise arise in formof a skewed rolling up.

It should further be understood that the additional cloth may be slit,for instance in form of frills.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be explained in detail by means of an example ofan embodiment with reference to the drawing, the sole FIGURE of whichschematically shows a perspective view of a rolled down roller blind inan imaginary window.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The FIGURE shows a roller blind known per se with a roller tube 1 and aroller blind cloth fastened thereon, said roller blind cloth beingrolled out in this case. The roller tube 1 may be spring-loaded in orderto roll up the roller blind cloth 2, or a cord control (not shown) ofknown type may be provided for rolling up and/or rolling down the rollerblind cloth 2.

On the roller blind cloth three additional pieces of cloth 3 arefastened, said pieces being fastened to the roller blind cloth 2 innarrow lanes 4 in parallel with the roller tube 1. The additional cloths3 have different shapes, impressions, and/or painting, thus providingtogether a three-dimensional picture when hanging down from the rollerblind cloth 2.

The cloths 3 are of a flexible material such that they may follow theroller blind cloth 2 during its rolling up on the roller tube 1. Thecloths may be permanently or detachably fastened in any suitable way.

What is claimed is:
 1. A roller blind for use in connection with a roofwindow mounted in a pitched roof, the window having a frame having atop, comprising: a roller tube (1) which is mountable at the top of theframe of the window; a flexible roller blind cloth (2), said rollerblind cloth having a rolled up condition in which the roller blind clothis rolled up on the roller tube and a rolled out condition in which partof the roller blind cloth is rolled off the roller tube, the roller tubebeing resiliently biased toward rolling said roller blind cloth to itsrolled up condition; and means for retaining the roller blind cloth (2)in the rolled out condition against the resilient bias of the rollertube (1), wherein at least one additional flat cloth (3) of flexiblematerial is fastened on the roller blind cloth in a zone (4) in parallelwith the roller tube (1), the additional flat cloth (3) hanging freelyfrom the roller blind cloth (2) when the roller blind cloth is in itsrolled out condition, and the additional flat cloth being rolled up onthe roller tube together with the roller blind cloth when the rollerblind cloth is in its rolled up condition.
 2. A roller blind accordingto claim 1, characterized in that the roller blind cloth (2) is providedwith several of said zones (4).
 3. A roller blind according to claim 2,characterized in that the roller blind has a plurality of saidadditional flat cloths, and said zones (4) are positioned so that theadditional flat cloths (3), when the roller blind cloth (2) is rolledout, are fastened to the roller blind cloth at substantially equallyspaced distances from one another within an area which, from the rollertube (1), extends downwards approximately ⅔ of the fully rolled outlength of the roller blind cloth (2).
 4. A roller blind according toclaim 1, wherein said additional flat cloth is decorated and has a topedge portion which is horizontal relative to the decoration.
 5. A rollerblind according to claim 4, wherein said top edge portion is providedwith means for fastening said additional flat cloth to said roller blindcloth.
 6. A roller blind according to claim 1 for, wherein the rollertube (1) is mountable at the top of the frame of the window and theroller blind cloth (2) defines a plurality of ribbon-shaped zones (4),the ribbon-shaped zones being in parallel with the roller tube (1) andbeing adapted to be fastened to an edge portion of the additional flatcloth (3) of flexible material, such that, when the roller blind cloth(2) is rolled out, the additional cloth (3) will hang freely downtherefrom and, when the blind is rolled up, the additional cloth (3)will follow the roller blind cloth (2) during its rolling up on theroller tube (1).
 7. A roller blind according to claim 6, characterizedin that the ribbon-shaped zones of the roller blind cloth (2) and theedge portion of the additional flat cloth (3) have means for detachablyfastening the additional flat cloth.
 8. A roller blind according toclaim 5, wherein the roller blind is devoid of means for fastening saidadditional flat cloth to said roller blind cloth outside said top edgeportion.
 9. A kit for decorating a roller blind for use in connectionwith a roof window mounted in a pitched roof, wherein the window has aframe having a top, and the roller blind includes a roller tube (1)which is mountable at the top of the frame of the window; a flexibleroller blind cloth (2), said roller blind cloth having a rolled upcondition in which the roller blind cloth is rolled up on the rollertube and a rolled out condition in which part of the roller blind clothis rolled off the roller tube, the roller tube being resiliently biasedtoward rolling said roller blind cloth to its rolled up condition; andmeans for retaining the roller blind cloth (2) in the rolled outcondition against the resilient bias of the roller tube (1), comprising:a plurality of flat additional cloths (3) of flexible material eachadapted to be fastened on the roller blind cloth in a zone (4) inparallel with the roller tube (1) in such a way that the additionalcloths (3) hang freely from the roller blind cloth (2) when the rollerblind cloth is in its rolled out condition and are rolled up on theroller tube together with the roller blind cloth when the roller blindcloth is in its rolled up condition, each said flat additional clothhaving means for detachably fastening said flat additional cloth to saidzone.
 10. A kit according to claim 9, wherein the flat additionalcloths, when spaced from one another on the roller blind cloth,cooperate with one another to define a 3-dimensional image.